Friday, September 20, 2013

New article suggests content marketing doesn't work

In this article, Forbes states that the marketers' eternal quest for the most eyeballs online is futile, especially when a company uses content to accomplish that mission. Per the article,

InboundWriter's new platform

“Our research proves that in content marketing and online publishing,
the subjective ‘hit or miss’ approach is a ‘miss’ 80 to 90 percent of
the time,” said Skip Besthoff, CEO of InboundWriter, the company that conducted the study.
How convenient is it that a content firm comes out with a study saying that content doesn't work unless it is measured and analyzed with their proprietary solution.

Many companies are now considering adding video and slideshows, twitter and facebook, to their marketing mix, and few have defined metrics on what works and what is a shot in the dark. The essential thing is not the media but the strategy that drives the media choice. For the past decade, internet-related trends in marketing have come and gone, but they are all a shot in the dark, unlikely to ever reach a prospect or show any ROI unless there is a strategy that drives their inception and a plan to measure their effectiveness that aligns with the company's goals. Small businesses are seduced by the promise of increased web presence and succumb to the lure of the latest marketing firm with the slickest message in the new media format, but without a strategy, the marketing dollars spent will be dust in the wind.

Regardless of the media, a strategy is a must. Nothing works without a plan and a comprehensive solution, whether it is drinking Diet Coke to lose weight or creating a single great video.